US Politics: A Post-Roe Country

[Fragile Bird]

Did anyone else watch Abbott’s press conference? It was surreal. Changing laws will do nothing, more people are killed in Chicago every weekend than were killed in Uvalde. I never knew Uvalde had a population of 3 M, I thought it was a little town.

And, weirdly, somehow so American that it’s Matthew McConaughey’s home town.

[JGP]

Though not wrong, McConaughey [today, last night?] trotted out a line form his character in Contact I noticed. 

 

But yeah, I was watching on MSNBC, which cut from Abbott's presser to follow Beto outside after he got the boot.

[Fragile Bird]

I just want to say one last thing about Abbott’s press conference. He and others in the conference blamed the lack of mental health coverage/facilities in the area as a major issue that leads to shootings.

Here in Canada our mental health coverage absolutely sucks. Every time there’s a shooting incident the failure of providing mental health services comes up. But we haven’t had 20 mass shootings so far this year in Canada, which would be the US equivalent. It’s not lacking mental health services guys, it’s easy access to guns. There are no restrictions on who can buy long guns in the state of Texas. How does an 18-year go out and buy two just after he turns 18?

[Lord of Oop North]

Canadian provinces, by and large, provide terrible mental health support, and the system has been in decline.

The differences are access to weapons, and the fact that many American boys are growing up in a disgusting macho culture, utterly ruining them.

The problem is fucking toxic men who have been raised in a fucked up gun fetish culture to be fucked up people.

We can talk about mental illness all we want, but from everything that I have read, people with mental illness makeup only a small proportion of shooters. But "mental health" is a great dog whistle for Inhumans like Abbott, Carlson and Trump, who will continue to place blame on that.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Fragile Bird said:

I just want to say one last thing about Abbott’s press conference. He and others in the conference blamed the lack of mental health coverage/facilities in the area as a major issue that leads to shootings.

Here in Canada our mental health coverage absolutely sucks. Every time there’s a shooting incident the failure of providing mental health services comes up. But we haven’t had 20 mass shootings so far this year in Canada, which would be the US equivalent. It’s not lacking mental health services guys, it’s easy access to guns. There are no restrictions on who can buy long guns in the state of Texas. How does an 18-year go out and buy two just after he turns 18?

Yeah, but Canada doesn't have violent movies and video games so that has to be the reason for the difference! 

[Zorral]

1 hour ago, Lord of Oop North said:

"mental health" is a great dog whistle for Inhumans like Abbott, Carlson and Trump, who will continue to place blame on that.

Which is scream-inducing, since the first thing any of them have done once / if they had opportunity was continue slashing financial and all other resources that support spotting and treating and dealing with mental health, all kinds of health -- and housing too, since a number one cause of mental disturbance among the homeless is being homeless.

How can all the same people one whichever side say the same stupid shyte they said ten years ago even?  We can predict what every one of them will say, from every angle.  Most of all, that asking, "How has this happened again?" when we've known for a very long time how it happens and the confluence among them all getting hands on guns.  For instance, this was published in 2019, pointing out that hatred and resentment of women is a unifying factor among the majority at the very least of the killers, and how often they'd committed domestic violence against female members of the family, neighbors, schoolmates.  Of course, that isn't considered a mental illness, so Abbotts and Costellos say there was no sign of mental illness in this particular shooter, when there were all those behaviors going on at once with him.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/us/mass-shootings-misogyny-dayton.html

[Fragile Bird]

Now we’re seeing the pictures of all those beautiful nine and ten year olds, and it’s just heartbreaking. I am just in awe of Anderson Cooper and how gentle he is with grieving people. It is amazing the man hasn’t cracked under the weight of PTSD, he’s covered so many tragic events.

[IheartIheartTesla]

4 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

Did anyone else watch Abbott’s press conference? It was surreal. Changing laws will do nothing, more people are killed in Chicago every weekend than were killed in Uvalde. I never knew Uvalde had a population of 3 M, I thought it was a little town.

And, weirdly, somehow so American that it’s Matthew McConaughey’s home town.

Uvalde has a population of 16000. Its a pretty small town.

[TormundsWoman]

4 hours ago, Fragile Bird said:

Did anyone else watch Abbott’s press conference? It was surreal. Changing laws will do nothing, more people are killed in Chicago every weekend than were killed in Uvalde. I never knew Uvalde had a population of 3 M, I thought it was a little town.

I am not 100% the Chicago part is in a sarcastic tone or not. I can’t tell. But if it’s genuine, there’s a reason why it’s not working. And a large part is access to guns from surrounding states. For example for 2013-2016 they did a research for all guns used in crimes in Chicago recovered by CPD. 60% were brought in from other state. Most of those from IN (https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/chicago-gun-trace-report-2017/27140/)

It could be we are simply more violent than others in other cities and we get them wherever we can. I wouldn’t know. I don’t presume to judge our entire population. But maybe it’s true.
 

Obviously we try our best and it’s not working because it probably needs a federal overhaul of gun laws and restrictions otherwise flow across state lines of the guns will keep happening.
 

I’m sure I’m not the first from Chicago to point that out. But since it’s brought up again, I think it deserved to be mentioned.

 

Also: deflecting is not going to solve the TX gun shooting problem.

[Jaxom 1974]

2 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Yeah, but Canada doesn't have violent movies and video games so that has to be the reason for the difference! 

Sure they do!  But in the Canadian slasher films, the killers are polite about hacking someone's head off...maybe offer them a donut at the same time...

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 minute ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

Sure they do!  But in the Canadian slasher films, the killers are polite about hacking someone's head off...maybe offer them a donut at the same time...

Makes sense. Drake is their most dangerous, hardcore rapper after all. So it can't be the music either...

[DMC]

41 minutes ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

But in the Canadian slasher films, the killers are polite about hacking someone's head off...maybe offer them a donut at the same time...

I assume they're like the Sorrowful Men.

[Jaxom 1974]

14 minutes ago, DMC said:

I assume they're like the Sorrowful Men.

I always think of Canadians being peppy though...

[DMC]

Just now, Jaxom 1974 said:

I always think of Canadians being peppy though...

Sure but they're also considerate, and it's rude to be peppy when you're hacking someone up with a chainsaw.

[karaddin]

7 hours ago, KalVsWade said:

Worth stating for folks in this thread. Be especially wary of leveraging the 'hypocrite argument - because that value is based on the moral value of fairness, which is not nearly as important to conservatives as it is liberals.

It's frustrating that I can't turn off the part of my brain that cares about it. Intellectually I know you're right and I'd never actually base a strategy on appealing to their sense of hypocrisy, but emotionally I just can't avoid getting engaged whenever I see the latest example of it.

[Jaxom 1974]

18 minutes ago, DMC said:

Sure but they're also considerate, and it's rude to be peppy when you're hacking someone up with a chainsaw.

Hey, what Everything I Need To Know About Canadians I Learned From How I Met Your Mother...and I can absolutely see a peppy Canadian slasher gutting some poor teenager who only thought he was going to be going to the lakeside to get lucky, all the while being told, "I'm sorry, eh."...just sayin...

[Jaxom 1974]

Dear gods...the word coming out that the shooter had upwards of 40 minutes with the cops staying outside...? If that's true...

 

[cock_merchant]

It was more like an hour. With witnesses and parents begging them to go in. 

 

But don’t worry, spokesman said that they had the gunman “contained in a classroom” while cops organised a stack. /s

 

They don’t mention the classroom was filled with 4th grade children. 

[polishgenius]

They got their own kids out first, though, by some reports. 

[Luzifer's right hand]

2 hours ago, Jaxom 1974 said:

Dear gods...the word coming out that the shooter had upwards of 40 minutes with the cops staying outside...? If that's true...

 

It won't be a surprise?

I mean people who believe that most us police forces are anything else than the legal gang of an area have been watching too many crime shows. Risking their lives for people that are not in their circles is not something they tend to do.